Lamps, computer components and many other types of electronic devices generate heat during operation and may have to be cooled for optimal performance. Various cooling techniques are known in the art, one of them being air cooling by the use of fans. Cooling fans typically include a heat sink which removes heat from the electronic device and from which heat is transferred to the ambient air through forced convection generated by the fan.
An example of a cooling apparatus for an electronic device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,087,905 B2. This cooling apparatus has a motor-driven impeller which coaxially encloses a heat sink with cooling fins. The rotation of the impeller generates a flow of air through the space between the fins and out of the impeller in a radial direction.
Since cooling is critical to the functioning of many electronic devices, improving the technical performance of cooling fans is an important area of applied research.